Chrysler wants more dealers to offer maintenance services on Sundays

After raising the number of dealerships that are open on Saturdays, Chrysler Group LLC is now planning to encourage more of its independent franchises to provide maintenance services on Sundays so that it can compete more effectively against service stations.

According to Pietro Gorlier, head of Chrysler's Mopar service, parts and customer-care unit, Chrysler aims for 80% of its U.S. dealers to operate on Saturdays by the end of the year.

Currently, there are 70% of its dealers that offer services on Saturdays while in 2009, there were about 60%. Chrysler has a total of about 2,300 U.S. dealers.

Gorlier said that around 20% to 30% now are open on Sundays. He asserted that dealerships that added Saturday hours boosted their service businesses by 20%. He also said that he expects that starting Sunday hours will increase service business by 10% to 15.

Gorlier said that Chrysler’s priorities for the year include increasing Saturday hours and expanding quick-lube service.

Gorlier also said that the company will likely define a target for 2012 for its Sunday hours, adding that “everything” is open on Sundays, specifically the malls and the shops.

He shared that dealers who will operate on Sundays will need to manage their workforces differently. Bryan Zvibleman, a spokesman for Chrysler said that 18 states have laws that limit or prevent dealers from opening on Sundays. [via autonews - sub. required]